If the thought of wielding a massive cleaver gives you goose bumps, but you have a hankering for some fresh coconut water take a look at Vita Coco. All the natural health goodness of fresh young coconuts without the risk of missing fingers, yikes sorry for the graphic image let’s stick to a more inviting picture – the image of good health.

• Coconut water is low in sodium and sugar and very high in potassium (even more than bananas, or sports drinks like Gatorade)
• Coconut water helps raise the metabolism, boost the immune system, and improve circulation (and in a pinch it can be used for blood transfusions since it is identical to human blood plasma – oops sorry that brings us back to the missing fingers quip I’ll try to refrain)

If you aren’t that familiar with the health benefits of coconut water do some searching and you’ll soon find out that coconut water is some amazing stuff (maybe that’s why all those commercials you see for vacations in the tropics have all those gorgeous people in them – it must be the coconut water)

But back to the Vita Coco shall we? Not only do they offer plain Jane coconut water that is scrumptious all by itself, they offer many other flavors made with natural fruit purees along with the coconut water. Give the Passion Fruit, Tangerine, Peach & Mango, Pineapple, or Acai & Pomegranate flavors a try – you’ll be dancing in tropical vacation commercials in no time.

I have not been paid by Vita Coco to butter them up and make them look good – their products speak for themselves – I am also not endorsed by meat cleaver sellers or emergency room workers for mentioning tragic accidents that might result from improper use of said cutlery – I do however receive a small commission from Amazon for any purchases made through the links on this site so tell all your friends to stop here first and practice hitting that buy button – it does a blogger good

This Post Shared on Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday

Have you been looking for a kids toothpaste that is so good your children will WANT to brush their teeth? Now how about one that is loaded with natural effective ingredients instead of all the artificial junk found in most children’s toothpaste?

We tried out a really effective herbal all natural toothpaste made by Vita-Myr awhile back and we loved it – the only problem was one of the main ingredients was clove. Clove is a very effective antibacterial and anti-inflammatory which is great for gum health, however it does have a strong taste – our 4 year old thought it was too “spicy”.

Alas, back to the gunky un-natural kids toothpaste…. but not long after we wrote up a review for the Vita-Myr Zinc Plus toothpaste – we received a surprise from the fine folks at Vita-Myr – a couple tubes of their Natural Orange Flavor Children’s Xylitol toothpaste. It has the same beneficial ingredients as the Zinc Plus toothpaste along with Xylitol which is a proven powerful cavity fighter and antioxidant – it even has clove. But with the nice subtle orange flavor you’d never know – and your kids won’t either.

Proof in point… when I brushed our 18 month old’s teeth with the Vita-Myr Children’s Xylitol toothpaste the first word out of her mouth was More! (and she wasn’t a big talker at the time so it must have been good)

She now loves brushing her teeth – and I love knowing that Vita-Myr children’s toothpaste contains no harmful chemicals, fluoride, artificial sweeteners or colors – not to mention this toothpaste is so effective at removing teeth scum it makes them squeak.

If you’ve discovered a great effective kids toothpaste leave a comment below – we are always looking for new natural health products to try.

This post shared on Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday

Today I was blasted with a Green inspiration (just the thought of green sends warm flashes of Spring coursing through the room – I just wish some would flow outside where it is a not so springy 17 Degrees Fahrenheit). I was introduced to Victoria Boutenko and her series of books on Green Smoothie recipes thanks to a fellow natural health blogger and her recent post Drink Your Greens. She shared a video (see the video below) of Victoria talking about the wonders of green smoothies and a little taste test of a banana, mango, pear kale smoothie – a very vibrant green smoothie recipe that I look forward to trying since we just picked up some nice juicy mangoes.

After watching the video the green smoothie monster grabbed me by the hand and forced me to look up some of Victoria Boutenko’s green smoothie recipe books. The video mentions Green for Life which is her highly lauded 2005 release. I also discovered her recent 2009 book Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Toward Natural Health which includes 72 pages of green smoothie recipes submitted from all over the world. It is rather inspiring to hear the great reviews these books get and the stories of increased health and wellness from introducing green smoothies into their diets. I immediately reserved both books at the library, but if you aren’t the waiting kind they are both for sale at Amazon.

Now I’m off to get some kale to go with that nice juicy mango… (and hey some of that Green inspiration must have spread outside after all… it’s now a balmy 24 Degrees outside)

Update: I’m still waiting on those books from the library, but in the mean time we’ve been experimenting with some green smoothie recipes of our own – and I’ve been blown away! The kids actually LOVE these! I’ll get a post up on one of our favorite recipes soon, but first I have to make our morning smoothie…

This post shared on Fight Back Friday and Real Food Wednesday

Are you looking for an easy way to get a jump on a cold winter morning? Here’s a simple to make powerful cold fighting natural remedy that helps boost metabolism, brain activity, and the immune system all in one shot – plus it has plenty of other mighty fine heath benefits.

Simply make a mug of hot lemon water and spice it up with cinnamon and fresh ginger! Kapow – instant superfood celebration.

Lemon is widely known for its high Vitamin C content and digestion aiding effects but the real powerhouse here is the cinnamon and ginger and the combination of all three.

In traditional Chinese remedies cinnamon is praised for its warming qualities (sounds pretty good on a cold winter morning) and has been used to provide relief when faced with the onset of a cold or flu, especially when mixed in a tea with some fresh ginger. Cinnamon’s scent has also been shown to boost brain activity so when you add a touch of cinnamon in your morning tea make sure you give it a big whiff to help get those cobwebs out of the brain and perhaps help you remember where you put your keys.

When consumed with high carb foods cinnamon can help lessen carbs impact on your blood sugar levels because cinnamon reduces blood sugar as well as cholesterol and triglycerides. It also has anti-microbial properties that help stop the growth of bacteria and can be effective in preventing candida overgrowth.

Ginger completes the digestive three way tag team because it is an intestinal spasmolytic (a substance which relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract). Ginger is also an excellent carminative (a substance which promotes the elimination of intestinal gas) so you don’t have to ride the toot toot train all the way to work. Ginger was shown to be far superior to Dramamine the motion sickness drug and is well known to be very useful in reducing the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. Ginger contains very potent anti-inflammatory compounds called gingerols. Ginger extracts have been shown to have both antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor effects on cells and is especially effective in inducing cell death in ovarian cancer cells.

Ginger is not only warming on a cold day with its spicy kick, but helps promote healthy sweating, which is helpful when you have a cold or the flu. So if you are doing a winter detox adding a little ginger in the morning will really help the detoxification process. A good sweat may do a lot more than simply assist detoxification as German researchers have found that sweat contains a potent germ-fighting agent called dermicidin. Dermicidin is manufactured in the body’s sweat glands, secreted into the sweat, and transported to the skin’s surface where it provides protection against invading microorganisms, bacteria and infections.

Now after all that appetizing talk of sweating and digestion why not lose yourself in a spicy sweet hot mug of lemon ginger cinnamon tea.

This Post Shared on Real Food Wednesday

As I sit here with my hot mug of Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls tea laced with a bit of oolong I longingly look outside and wonder what it would feel like to bask in the warmth of a natural hot spring right about now. I suppose I shouldn’t complain it is a balmy 31 degrees out, but there is a bit of a nip in the air and i can see a faint whiff of the seasonal cold bug flitting through the air.

My thoughts turn to a past article on the many benefits of lemon that sits atop my blog fodder pile and my attention is peaked by the mention of bourbon. Bourbon and lemon the natural cold and flu fighting wonders of the world. And let’s not leave out honey – our poor honey who is feeling left out of the celebration (and shame on us to forget about our honey so close to Valentines Day).

It is an age old natural remedy the use of lemon, honey and bourbon to fight off sore throats and stuffy noses – in fact Mr. Hot Toddy as he is so affectionately called by some, has been with us since the nineteenth century in India and the UK – a fine place to enjoy the herbal delights of such a concoction as the cold wind whips over the cobblestone streets and the gas lamps belch their sputtering coal powered flame.

But alas, today in my comparatively warm home I enjoy my tea and wonder if perhaps something stronger might fight off the cold a bit better. But alas again since my first alas was the former I am without the natural cold fighting comfort of bourbon, but perhaps if you are lucky (yet unlucky enough to be besotted with the lover called the common cold) to have a bit of bourbon you might try an evening dance with Mr. Hot Toddy.

Natural Bourbon Cough Cold and Flu Elixir
2 ounces bourbon whiskey
1/2 lemon, juiced (about 2 ounces)
2-4 ounces water (optional)
1 tablespoon honey or heck lay it on thick and shoot for a bit more

The mixture is up to you really depending on how intimate you want to get with Mr. Bourbon, basically mix up lemon, honey, water and bourbon to taste – heat that baby to a nice warm glow and enjoy before bed.

For me I have a date with more tea – if you’ve enjoyed a dance with Mr. Hot Toddy please share your stories below (and please keep them to a respectful smolder there may be children peeking over your shoulder)

This post shared on Real Food Wednesday

Thieves oil or more properly an essential oil blend coined Thieves (since it is a registered trademark of Young Living Essential Oils™ who sells a wide range of Thieves oil products) has been found by a Weber State University study to have a 99.96% success rate against airborne bacteria. That’s a pretty huge claim to make, but many people swear by their Thieves oil recipes and concoctions.

The basic Thieves oil recipe consists of Clove, Lemon, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus and Rosemary. All of these essential oils have powerful healing properties. Cinnamon and clove make a viral infection less likely to occur by fitting the cell receptor sites normally reserved for viruses – just like a puzzle piece – or I suppose more like a wad of chewing gum and the underside of a park bench. I know from experience that clove oil is exceptional at fighting off colds after trying a natural toothpaste that includes clove and other bacteria fighting ingredients.

Many people already know about lemon’s antiseptic properties since it is used in cleaning products everywhere. According to Jean Valnet, MD, the vaporized essence of lemon can kill meningococcus bacteria in 15 minutes, typhoid bacilli in one hour, Staphylococcus aureus in two hours, and Pneumococcus bacteria within three hours. Even a 0.2% solution of lemon oil can kill diphtheria bacteria in 20 minutes and inactivate tuberculosis. (as stated in the book Essential Oils Desk Reference
) Wow! Once you get past the tongue twisting barrage of scientific terms there lemon seems like a miracle cure.

Rosemary helps protect against and destroy bad bacteria, yeasts and fungi – and we’re not talking the fungi from your monster Angus beef, onion and Shiitake burger, more like the fungi crawling between your toes after a fast paced game of basketball. (sorry to those of you who just enjoyed a Shiitake burger, didn’t mean to ruin your fine meal – although you know if you have a bit of bad breath from the onion a bit of Thieves oil might just clear that up)

And let’s not leave out Eucalyptus since it is quite the little gamer itself. We all know about the stimulating aroma of Eucalyptus and its known properties for helping relieve cold and flu symptoms, but it is also adept as an antibacterial and helps stimulate the immune system, It acts as an anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and even analgesic. (that last really isn’t as dirty as it sounds – it just means pain killer – man get your mind out of the gutter).

When you slip all these powerhouse essential oils into a bottle and give it a catchy name like Thieves Oil (with a sordid myth based potentially on the truth) you have a natural remedy winner on your hands. There are a billion and one uses for Thieves oil from use as a household cleaner, mold destroyer, cold fighter, hand sanitizer and even treating or preventing the common flu or H1N1 Swine Flu. Since Thieves oil is safe for ingestion a few drops can be added to your toothbrush to fight bacteria in the mouth and on the toothbrush itself.

You can make up an easy Thieves oil recipe your self by mixing 1-tablespoon each of Clove Oil and Lemon Oil, 2 1/2-teaspoons of Cinnamon Oil and 2-teaspoons of Rosemary Oil and Eucalyptus Oil with a cup of Jojoba oil or other carrier oil.

If you aren’t a DIY apothecary type you can always find plenty of good deals on pre-made Thieves Oil at your local natural health store or patiently look for a good sale on ebay.